Sri Lankan Crisis Talks Impasse
Sri Lanka’s feuding president and prime minister have made no progress in their latest attempt to resolve a month-old power struggle, reports say. President Kumaratunga met Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe for two hours at her Colombo residence on Wednesday to try to broker agreement. The talks came ahead of a 15 December deadline the two have set for a deal. Their differences centre on peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels who are demanding autonomy in the north-east. There are no signs that Mrs Kumaratunga and Mr Wickramasinghe have arranged for more talks. The president accuses her rival of being too soft on the rebels. She sparked the current crisis at the start of November by sacking the defence, interior and information ministers, and assuming control of their portfolios. She also briefly declared a state of emergency and suspended parliament for a fortnight. Full Story